Oklahoma touts its previous experience in military drone testing, while Arizona is all about its uniform climate that’s “perfect flying weather.” California, of course, has one of the most varied geographies in the country, sporting deserts, mountains, and coastline. North Carolina (home of the Wright Brothers) has floated the idea of putting drones over farmland. (You get the idea.)

"Corn doesn't care" about drones flying overhead, Kyle Snyder, director of the NextGen Air Transportation Center at North Carolina State University, told the Times.

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Cyrus Farivar
Cyrus is a Senior Tech Policy Reporter at Ars Technica, and is also a radio producer and author. His latest book, Habeas Data, about the legal cases over the last 50 years that have had an outsized impact on surveillance and privacy law in America, is out now from Melville House. He is based in Oakland, California. Emailcyrus.farivar@arstechnica.com//Twitter@cfarivar

I personally don't like the idea of drones because it makes doing surveillance too easy. It is actually a good thing that surveillance is difficult and costly for law enforcement, because it is only used when there is a strong belief that crimes are occurring. Make it cheap and easy and they start to watch everything all the time "just in case".

I am disgusted by what has happened to the World I am a part of.57 Years old and if only I could hop on a Time Machine and go backwards..........I really think the World of my Childhood was so much better.Is it just being Romantic for a bygone Era or is it a Truth.So many things wrong with the World now.Not feeling Optimistic about the Future.My Son is Inheriting a living hell.I did fight as much as I could.I Protested from the Age of 13 in 1969 onwards.I still try to Educate others to good causes.Drones are just one part of the filth we have to deal with.I hate this Technology.Right from the getgo it was one of those pieces of Tech that held great Promise for Great Good or Great Evil.So did the Atom !

I don't find this particularly surprising - a lot of states are still having budget issues, and would love to have a new military facility because of all the federal money and jobs that would come with it.

I am disgusted by what has happened to the World I am a part of.57 Years old and if only I could hop on a Time Machine and go backwards..........I really think the World of my Childhood was so much better.Is it just being Romantic for a bygone Era or is it a Truth.So many things wrong with the World now.Not feeling Optimistic about the Future.My Son is Inheriting a living hell.I did fight as much as I could.I Protested from the Age of 13 in 1969 onwards.I still try to Educate others to good causes.Drones are just one part of the filth we have to deal with.I hate this Technology.Right from the getgo it was one of those pieces of Tech that held great Promise for Great Good or Great Evil.So did the Atom !

Probably a little of both. I'm only 34, but I think we all feel a sense of innocence and romanticism (nostalgia?) for the era in which we grew up in. The reality is, it's never been so black and white, and the wold goes through troubling times as well as encouraging times. I don't know what the world will become, or what my children will inherit, but I have to hope it'll just seem worse to me than it actually is because my view of the world is different.

Modern warfare really has started to fall in line with the world of Metal Gear Solid 4, where warfare is ruled by non-piloted machines and mercenary groups. The only we're missing are cyborgs.

$11 billion to get pictures of a couple pot plants, and here it is 20 years later and the roads in my state still have whoop sections they had when I graduated high school. Makes a whole lot of sense to me.

while Arizona is all about its uniform climate that’s “perfect flying weather.”

If the government is going to be developing and deploying surveillance drones, I'd like them to be tested in as many climates and flying conditions as possible, thank-you-very-much. I'm not too keen on them flying around spying on us, but as long as we have to put up with this nonsense I don't want them crashing down on me either.

For some reason I find it disturbing government is restricting gun rights and flight testing drones for patrolling. Just the types of Big Brother that you really can't get rid of, but can see out your window.

"North Dakota, to highlight its expertise on drones, noted that one of its universities was the first in the nation to offer a bachelor's degree in "unmanned aircraft systems operations." The governor has allocated $1 million for the state's bid and pledged an additional $4 million to support the testing if North Dakota is selected."

And the fact they are pushing the AFB to have more and more drone missions as they downsize and take away tanker fleets. And 60 miles from the border where drones are becoming a big part of border patrol.

Just, the terrain is so flat and sure, its nice to test if your drone can actually fly but you need some hills and valleys to test into to see if your drone is any good.

For some reason I find it disturbing government is restricting gun rights and flight testing drones for patrolling. Just the types of Big Brother that you really can't get rid of, but can see out your window.

I personally don't like the idea of drones because it makes doing surveillance too easy. It is actually a good thing that surveillance is difficult and costly for law enforcement, because it is only used when there is a strong belief that crimes are occurring. Make it cheap and easy and they start to watch everything all the time "just in case".

Don't be silly, there is no such thing as "difficult and costly" for the police. It will be funny to hear the police saying, "Oh no it's difficult and very costly." Hell, the police and the politicians don't give a rat's ass if the surveillance is difficult and costly. Long as the money is not out of their own pockets. That's all they are concerning. The money from the Homeland Security is endessly coming in every year and the amount on the checks get bigger and bigger. If not big enough, they'll come up with something to make it big. Got the idea? The only people that hurt the most are the tax payers. But that's another story.

Simple as that. If you are unemployed you don't care who signs your paychecks.But to be honest, I don't get the reason for the uproar. Design the proper laws that give guidance to officials in what way drones can be used and make sure those rules are enforced.It's like a search warrant. Strict rules make sure it's not misused. (to a certain degree).Guess many are concerned about a Reaper or Predator drone bringing down their homes in flames and wrecking havoc like in Terminator saga.

I live near a large Air Force base and I can almost guarantee they will jump at the chance to test drones (as they did with the Predator and Global Hawk) and I think it's for the best because I'd rather have a small drone flying over my house than the constant precession of AC130s that is slowly rattling it to pieces.

For some reason I find it disturbing government is restricting gun rights and flight testing drones for patrolling. Just the types of Big Brother that you really can't get rid of, but can see out your window.

then it's a good thing that shotgun ammo seems to be just about the only thing you can still find in stock anywhere... for "bird" hunting, of course.